Carl Beebe was stationed on the USS Saint Paul (SP-1643) at the time it capsized on the 28th of April 1918. Following this, he found himself placed on an oil tanker on his way to the Mediterranean. He wrote him in a letter to his mother, Rebecca (Fritz) Beebe, about his visits to Genoa, Italy and seeing the Rock of Gibraltar.

You look through old black and white photographs, and notice a photograph of your great granduncle Bob in a farm field with a few unknown men. You’ve never met him. You’ve never any other photograph of him. Then you wonder, “Where did I get this photograph, again? How was it identified that this man as great granduncle Bob?”

Piecing together one’s family history is like piecing together a puzzle depicting a landscape. As you fit pieces of blue sky together, you sometimes find you have pieced together a portion of sky from another puzzle, and you have to toss it out. Other times, you’re left uncertain whether the pieces you’ve fit together are part of your puzzle or not.

I’ve encountered a few pieces that may or may not fit my Fritz family history puzzle.

William Shea and Gertrude Cornelius Fritz married. They had two daughters: Allie M. and Edna H. Shea. I hadn’t expected to ever know their middle names, but thanks to William’s livestock, I was able to learn what that M. stands for.

A cousin I’ve been in contact with sent me the following earlier today:

I already knew when George Fritz and Birdie Fowler married, but found it interesting to see another Fritz on there. I’ve already accounted for all the Fritzes in my line from around there (assuming George’s uncle Johann Josef didn’t marry and have children before he was murdered).

So, this W.D. Fritz is an unrelated Fritz, right? I have reason to wonder.